Virginia SB 436: Photo speed monitoring devices; highway work zones, workers present.

Bill Text

2026 SESSION

INTRODUCED

26101066D

SENATE BILL NO. 436

Offered January 14, 2026

Prefiled January 13, 2026

A BILL to amend and reenact § 46.2-882.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to photo speed monitoring devices; highway work zones; workers present.

—————

Patron—Bagby

—————

Referred to Committee on Transportation

—————

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 46.2-882.1 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 46.2-882.1. Use of photo speed monitoring devices in highway work zones, school crossing zones, and high-risk intersection segments; civil penalty.

A. For the purposes of this section:

"High-risk intersection segment" means any highway or portion thereof located not more than 1,000 feet from the limits of the property of a school that is part of or adjacent to an intersection containing a marked crosswalk that is identified in the manner provided in this section as one in which a traffic fatality has occurred since January 1, 2014.

"Highway work zone" has the same meaning ascribed to it in § 46.2-878.1.

"Photo speed monitoring device" means equipment that uses radar or LIDAR-based speed detection and produces one or more photographs, microphotographs, videotapes, or other recorded images of vehicles.

"Retired sworn law-enforcement officer" means any officer of the United States, or of a state or political subdivision thereof, who was empowered by law to conduct investigations and make arrests and any attorney authorized by law to prosecute or participate in the prosecution of such offenses, who at the time of retirement kept an up-to-date certification and retired honorably in good standing. A retired sworn law-enforcement officer shall not be required to keep an up-to-date certification after the date of his retirement.

"School crossing zone" has the same meaning ascribed to it in § 46.2-873.

"Vehicle speed violation" means a violation of this title resulting from the operation of a vehicle in excess of the speed limit, including a violation of § 46.2-873 or 46.2-878.1.

"Workers are present" means two of more individuals are physically present and providing highway maintenance or construction services pursuant to a contract with the Department of Transportation or a political subdivision of the Commonwealth.

B. A state or local law-enforcement agency may place and operate a photo speed monitoring device in school crossing zones for the purposes of recording violations of § 46.2-873 and, when workers are present, in highway work zones for the purposes of recording violations of § 46.2-878.1.

A state or local law-enforcement agency may place and operate a photo speed monitoring device at a high-risk intersection segment located within the locality for the purpose of recording vehicle speed violations, provided that such law-enforcement agency certifies that a traffic fatality has occurred since January 1, 2014, in such segment.

C. The operator of a vehicle shall be liable for a monetary civil penalty imposed pursuant to this section if such vehicle is found, as evidenced by information obtained from a photo speed monitoring device, to be traveling at speeds of at least 10 miles per hour above the posted speed limit in the zone monitored by the photo speed monitoring device, provided that, if such zone is a highway work zone, workers are present. Such civil penalty shall not exceed $100, and any prosecution shall be instituted and conducted in the same manner as prosecution for traffic infractions. Civil penalties collected under this section resulting from a summons issued by a local law-enforcement officer or retired sworn law-enforcement officer employed by a locality shall be paid to the locality in which such violation occurred. Civil penalties collected under this section resulting from a summons issued by a law-enforcement officer or retired sworn law-enforcement officer employed by the Department of State Police shall be paid into the Literary Fund. However, all civil penalties collected under this section resulting from a summons issued based on evidence obtained from a photo speed monitoring device placed and operated at a high-risk intersection segment shall be paid to the Commonwealth Transportation Board to be used for the Virginia Highway Safety Improvement Program established pursuant to § 33.2-373.

D. If a photo speed monitoring device is used, proof of a vehicle speed violation shall be evidenced by information obtained from such device. A certificate, or a facsimile thereof, sworn to or affirmed by a law-enforcement officer or a retired sworn law-enforcement officer, based upon inspection of photographs, microphotographs, videotapes, or other recorded images produced by a photo speed monitoring device, shall be prima facie evidence of the facts contained therein. However, for any photo speed monitoring device placed in a school crossing zone, such sworn certificate or facsimile thereof shall not be prima facie eviden